Excerpt from The Forcing House, or the Cockpit Continued: Tragi-Comedy in Four Acts
For my own part, nothing that has happened has contradicted my published prevision Of the course Socialism would run, and my handling Of the theme dramatically would have been substantially the same had Russia been as imaginary a country as my Valdania, though I have, Of course, profited by the Russian experience to add' a concrete touch or two. There is, equally of course, no attempt to photograph facts and personages. The artist needs free elbow-room and must profit by his poetic license. As Renan pointed out in the preface to his own play, Le Pretre de Nemi, by the side Of real history there is also ideal history which has not occurred literally, and yet is essentially a summary Of historic realities. NO less apposite is his remark in the same preface that it should be im possible to refute a thorough work Of art, for the other side Of every thought ought to be indicated in it, so that the reader may seize at one glance the two op posite sides Of which the truth is composed. The Jewish psychology Of Trotsky Offered a rich and tempt ing model, but it would have over-weighted the theme and I set him aside for a simpler type Of leader. More over Russia is not the only country where the dread new disease has raged. The pioneer country seems to - have been Mexico, and you may be interested to hear that the young man who took a snapshot of you, when you lunched with me at my hotel, was the son Of the very President Of Mexico in whose period Of Office Bolshevism broke out. Naturally he supplied me with vivid details Of the movement that had ruined his family and made Of him a precocious Conservative.
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